I hear this claimed from time to time, but in my experience it's bogus. We have large group rides that attract bicyclists of all levels of experience in central NC every year. I pass dozens of cyclists this way, and all but the youngest children do the right thing. If you're frequently seeing people veer into your path when you alert them, try doing it a little sooner and allowing them more space.

If we treat strangers on bicycles as potential obstacles instead of potential friends, it's rude behavior. It sends the wrong signal to new riders. We're better than that.

That's nice that in your experience in GROUP RIDES everybody plays nice but on public paths and roads my experience is different.

FYI in a group ride setting "hold your line" is a perfectly acceptable and common practice. Usually told to people who can't ride in a predictable manner.

In a group setting you don't normally tell people anything when you come by because its expected that everyone will ride predictably and yes, in a GROUP RIDE you are expected to go over most obstacles in your path so that you don't cause carnage behind you due to your lack of bike handling skills.

As far as riding solo in a public setting thanks for the advice but I do ring a bell many times from a long way back when approaching people and its always the ones that can't hear all that get startled when you get closer and do all kinds of silly crap that endangers other users. I continue to ring my bell and warn people from quite a distance but stopped saying "on your left" a long time ago. My rides are much safer for it.

I can only speak for myself: I ride roads only, and solo only; I appreciate some sort of warning (bell, "hey", "on your left", "good afternoon", etc.) when a faster rider (i.e., most anyone) comes up to pass me.

In SoCal, yelling "on your left" gets mixed reactions.....Somebody that rides will understand....The other 95% anything could happen....and that's if they heard you over the sound the earbuds are making in the first place.

Just because your out in public doesn't mean you have to pay attention to your surroundings....In fact,quite the opposite seams to be true....That's the time to escape reality....

Last edited by Booger1; 07-30-14 at 11:09 AM.

Everything should be as simple as possible...But not more so.---Albert Einstein

If the rider you're passing happens to be an experienced cyclist familiar with the culture of group rides in English-speaking, drive-on-the-right countries, "on your left" can be very effective.

If the rider you're passing is just someone on a bike, they're not in the middle of a conversation with you and probably won't catch the first word or two out of your mouth anyway. You say "left," they veer left like you asked them to. You say "line," they look for a line somewhere. Assuming they heard you and speak English, of course.

Assuming you're on an open street, not a closed course, they're also free to ignore you. As the overtaking vehicle, it's your job to provide safe passing clearance, including leaving reasonable room for the overtaken vehicle to avoid road obstacles.

Use a bell! For one reason, your voice can't be heard as far away as you need to start warning people that you are approaching. I'll start the process about 40 +feet away, depending on the situation, and continue to ring at meaningful intervals as I get closer. I am regularly thanked by others for such courteous behaviour. I my bell work is an art!

I pretty much use "Bike back" almost with everyone. I have a loud voice, so I call out early enough to get there attention so they can get there act together.

I use this because I have had every situation mentioned in this thread happen to me, women gabbing, path users without a clue, families with wild kids. Calling out "Bike back" almost always gets them to acknowledge there is someone else on the path besides them.

And don't forget about the ear bud zombies that wouldn't hear you at all!

I stopped saying "on your left" or "passing left" when I realized that this caused about 80% of people to swerve to the left in front of me.

I've been experimenting recently and have noticed that those people tend to react better if I use complete sentences. When I say "on your left" they tend to move left, but when I say " Careful! I'm coming up on your left side" they tend to hold their line. I don't have an explanation for this but I think they might only hear "left" in the shorter phrase and so move in that direction, whereas the longer phrase gives them time to actually pay attention to what I'm saying. YMMV

I've been experimenting recently and have noticed that those people tend to react better if I use complete sentences. When I say "on your left" they tend to move left, but when I say " Careful! I'm coming up on your left side" they tend to hold their line.

Yup, a 20 year old girl just about took out me, a friend of mine and his son by swerving out of her group in front of us. They were just going fast enough to stay up. And she didn't understand why we were all yelling at her.

I hear this claimed from time to time, but in my experience it's bogus. We have large group rides that attract bicyclists of all levels of experience in central NC every year. I pass dozens of cyclists this way, and all but the youngest children do the right thing. If you're frequently seeing people veer into your path when you alert them, try doing it a little sooner and allowing them more space.

If we treat strangers on bicycles as potential obstacles instead of potential friends, it's rude behavior. It sends the wrong signal to new riders. We're better than that.